1958 Thunderbird

[landman]

Decided to do something not scratched or bashed . I opened this 30 year old. Everything looks good except a slight twist to the body.

Edited December 24, 2020 by landman

[Jantrix]

I've two of these kits. I'll be looking forward to your build.

[cobraman]

I always loved the square bird.

[slusher]

I will be watching..

[charlie8575]

I saw a beautiful '60 at a car show over the summer. Great design and amazingly roomy under the hood- literally the only thing you'd need to go under the car for is the drain-plug and I think the oil filter.

I'll look forward to this.

Charlie Larkin

[MrObsessive]

I'll be watching too! I had this kit untouched, but it was lost when my place got flooded back in '11.  

I've since got another one----------a rebuilder looking for a nice home I got off eBay. Watch out for those rather stout sink marks that are just in front of the leading edge of the doors. They're a result of impressions that were made on the inside of the body for the door hinges/hinge retainers. Filling those in (or maybe even sanding that area level) shouldn't be too hard.

[carrucha]

I finished building one last May.  It builds into a nice model.  The opening doors can be tricky.  The hinge retainers kept coming off so I just glued the doors shut.  Also the engine colors on the instruction sheet are incorrect.  The engine should be painted Ford blue, the air cleaner white and the valve covers gloss black.

Edited September 25, 2016 by carrucha

[landman]

Bodywork has begun.

This kit has some serious flash.

Edited December 24, 2020 by landman

[Dogfish_7]

Wholey BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH!

[Dogfish_7]

Wow! We can't even say BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH?

 

[Modlbldr]

Nice work on your Tbird! It looks like they could have molded another tree out of all of the flash it has.

Later-

[landman]

I guess I am not cut out to do "paint over foil" . The first attempt (on another model) was a disaster and was scrapped. This one isn't much better. I think I'll stick to the 13/0 brush & silver paint.

Edited December 24, 2020 by landman

[randyc]

My experiment didn't work out well, either.  I think in my case I let the paint dry too much before trying to remove it from the foil.  But that script doesn't look too bad, really.  Who is going to be THAT close to your model?    The scripts are the only place I would do paint over foil anyway.  

I keep thinking abou this kit.  I have one and really should dig it out.  

 

[espo]

I have tried the foil under the paint and had about a 50/50 success rate. You might think about the trim on the door you show. The detailing is very fine and will get lost under a couple coats of paint. What I have done with some success is to mask details like that with foil as a mask. After painting you can outline the trim with a blade and remove the foil. This will leave the small squares with only primer paint and will show the detail when you foil it.

[StevenGuthmiller]

 The scripts are the only place I would do paint over foil anyway.   

 

I agree.

The only place that I use foil under the paint is the scripts & very small parts like door & trunk locks, or those little Chrysler emblems on the lower front fender of 60s Mopars.

The rest gets it over the paint.

I've had very good luck with this technique.

Pretty much 100%.

I'm sure a lot depends on how your doing it & what sort of paint your using.

I've only been using this technique for a few years & it works extremely well for me.

Keep trying.

You'll get the hang of it.

And when you do, you'll never go back to doing it any other way!

 

Steve

[TarheelRick]

I've got the Elvira kit waiting in the lineup.  Looks like they forgot to close the molds before shooting the styrene, definitely some serious flash.

[landman]

Pecking away at the engine.

Suspensions mounted.

I have a big dilemma. the box shows a green and white interior. I thinkblack would look good too. what do you guys think.

Edited December 24, 2020 by landman

[slusher]

I think green and white would look really good on this build for the interior..

Edited October 1, 2016 by slusher

[Jantrix]

Let me ask a question. When I peruse this kit, I'm thinking about building it as a non-removable hardtop. So I was planning to strip the chrome windshield frame and permanently mount the frame and top before paint. But it seems to me that you can't get the windshield glass in if you do that. Am I correct?

 

Edited October 1, 2016 by Jantrix

[Foxer]

a '58 TBird in 1958 was the first auto model I ever bought, thou it was the AMT new release, so I have a soft spot for them.

Open doors .. cool. I want to try getting chrome scripts with foil too but haven't started anything with scripts molded to the body recently (in last 20 years ... eheh).

I will be watching 

[landman]

Work continues on the engine.

A decision was made. The interior will be green & white or cream.

Edited December 24, 2020 by landman

[landman]

Let me ask a question. When I peruse this kit, I'm thinking about building it as a non-removable hardtop. So I was planning to strip the chrome windshield frame and permanently mount the frame and top before paint. But it seems to me that you can't get the windshield glass in if you do that. Am I correct?

 

Rob, you can build it eitherway hardtop or convertible. According to the instructions you fix the windshield to the cowl then add the top over it. There are no marks/guide lines in the top to show where it attaches to the windshield header. Attaching it there first would cause a risk of misalingment  for the base of the windshield.

[Jantrix]

Okay, I didn't explain correctly. It seems to me, like the glass slides into the windshield frame rather tightly. In such a way as to make it impossible to install the glass if the frame and top are glued in place before paint. Would you agree?

[Harry P.]

The engine is looking good!

[landman]

On 10/2/2016 at 1:55 PM, Jantrix said:

Okay, I didn't explain correctly. It seems to me, like the glass slides into the windshield frame rather tightly. In such a way as to make it impossible to install the glass if the frame and top are glued in place before paint. Would you agree?

I'm going to have to try it.

Edited December 24, 2020 by landman